Thursday, 15 December 2011

I have so many excuses for not posting lately that it is not funny. Firstly blogger keeps updating its format and changing things so of course I don't not what I am doing. It has taken me a long time to get a few things sorted let alone changing them, so of course this puts me in an extremely bad mood. Then it says I have exceeded my photo quota and of course it is not making it easy for me to delete the crappy ones and blah blah blah.

Secondly the weather has been bad with no sunshine, so makes taking photos difficult with no natural light.

I have been working a lot of morning shifts and when I do that I don't feel like cooking at all.

Most bloggers at this time of year are full of Christmas joy posting Christmas ideas and food, not me.

This is a photo of our Christmas tree and this is about as Christmasy as I am going to get. Yes the photo is lousy. Its pouring outside, And yes it is a ladder with some lame lights wrapped around it and a star hanging from the roof.

Monday, 5 December 2011

Friday, 2 December 2011

This is what Lily had for her afternoon snack yesterday. She used to eat them all the time until they became overkill and then didn't like them. But a long enough time has gone past and she likes them again.
I add some dried egg noodles to boiling water until just cooked.
Fry a sliced onion and garlic in a wok until soft, add a grated carrot the cooked noodles and some sticky sweet soy sauce and there you have it. Much better for you than the 2 minute noodle variety.

Thursday, 1 December 2011

We had smoked salmon pizza last night for dinner. The combination of smoked salmon, red onion, capers, sour cream, lemon juice, rocket and basil is heavenly to me and works particularly well on a pizza.
I used the already made 'turkish' pizza bases. I heat one side of the base in a cast iron pan on the hob until it just starts to colour and then I turn it over. I then put the homemade sweet tomato sauce down, then on goes the smoked salmon ( a little goes a long way), red onion capers and a very light sprinkling of grated mozerella cheese.
Put the cast iron pan with the pizza in it, in a pre heated 220 C oven for about 5-7 mins until it is nicely golden.
When it is done spoon on some sour cream, add the rocket, basil, S & P, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. Slice and eat.

Monday, 28 November 2011

By now you probably know that I love tomatoes and I am so glad they are out there in abundance. They are so summer.
I also love flavoured oils and one great way to create your own is to confit with olive oil and that is what I have done with these tomatoes.

Slice the tomatoes in half on top of some fresh rosemary, thyme and a bay leaf in a small baking dish along with a couple of garlic cloves and a fine sprinkle of salt and sugar. Then pour some good olive oil to just cover.
Cover with foil and and bake for about an hour at 180 C. Just long enough to become squashy.

When cooked remove the skins. I added these to pasta with basil and parmesan cheese along with some of the confit oil and plenty of maldon salt and pepper and some fresh thyme.

They would also be nice squashed on some toasted bread with goat cheese.
The left over oil would be great to make crostini or perfect for salad dressing.

Plain corn chips ( I like 'homebrand' from 'countdown' salted, as they have no crappy fake flavourings and they are really big and crisp)

Start off by gently frying the onions and carrots with some olive oil in a large fry pan, then add the garlic. Saute for at least 10 mins so the veges get soft and cooked down. Add some water if they start to stick. Next, add the mince and cook until all the pinkness is gone and now starts to fry in its own fat. You can hear it sizzling. Add salt and taste it to see that it is seasoned properly. This is crucial, minced beef is blah if not seasoned correctly. Also add the cumin, oregano, smoked paprika and chipotle chilies mix well into the beef and keep frying.

Next add the 2 tins of tomatoes and 2 tin equivalents of water and the sugar and bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, stir and watch occasionally so it doesn't catch. Then add the can of beans, make sure you drain the liquid and give them a quick rinse.

Add some more water and let it simmer away for another 30 minutes at least until it gets down to the sauce consistency you like, there needs to be some movement. Check again for salt and sweetness and add accordingly. This is a spicy hot mixture. (use less chipotle chilies if you don't want it hot.)

Finally add the black ground pepper and serve on top of your chips. Along with sour cream and tomatoes. Jacob needed grated cheese and avocado on his. I think sour cream is plenty.

This is a good make ahead dinner as you can prepare the mince mixture in advance and heat up later, just add a little water to loosen it up.

The piha cafe has been open since November 18th 2010 after 3 years of controversy and perseverance. The owners appeared in environment court and at council hearings fighting opposition from some locals to open.. It is set back from the road fitting in with the environment and allowing space for car parking. It is situated at 20 Seaview Rd.
I haven't been there yet but hope to try it out this summer. They are open weekdays Wed to Fri from 10am to 4pm and the weekend 7.30am to 5ish depending on whats happening.
Read the article here by Graham Hepburn to learn more about the cafe.

Check out the food they serve here, unfortunately they do not have a liquor license... but that is not all bad I guess

There is something really beautiful and magical about the wild west coast and definitely worth the trip for the views alone.

Saturday, 12 November 2011

Actually I made the curry powder (previous post) because I felt like this dish for breakfast on Sunday morning. I can eat any types of food any time of the day and any left over dinner to me is the ultimate breakfast.
Anyway there was some left over plain white rice in the fridge from the previous nights dinner and I felt like something savoury and spicy, so kedgeree came to mind, not that I have made it before or actually eaten it either.
Well I started looking at some recipes and realised I did'nt have the main ingredient which is smoked haddock. Well that wasn't going to deter me and I thought tuna from a can would be a reasonable substitute. I was pleasantly surprised, very tasty. I love eggs and tomatoes so it couldn't be wrong.
Probably a dish you don't want to eat at work as it has the winning smell combination of eggs, fish and curry.

Start by frying the onions in some butter on medium heat then add the garlic and ginger and gently fry till they have softened. Next add the curry powder and mustard seeds and mix together to get a good paste.

Next add the rice to the pan and mix through the spice mixture till well coated and warmed through, followed by the tuna, tomatoes, coriander and eggs and there you have it.

This is a you tube video of Finn skateboarding at 'Victoria Park' a few weeks ago. He will kill me if he knows I have posted this. I was just experimenting on how to upload video on to my post. Obviously it was successful. I now see why Finn has so many bruises and scabs. Make sure you watch it to the end when he finally gets his tricks down.

Thursday, 10 November 2011

This is my dinner that I made and took to work last night. We had some drumsticks left over from another dinner and decided I would roast whatever was about. Which was carrots, kumara, potatoes, some cabbage an onion, cloves of garlic and one very small red pepper and of course some herbs that are in the garden.

Prepare the vege, add a glug of olive oil and lots of salt and pepper. I slice the onions and layer them on the bottom of the dish along with the rosemary and thyme. Then pile on the rest any way you like.

Roast in a 180C - 200C preheated oven. I cook it in 3 lots of 15 minutes, turning it over and making sure things aren't getting too charred and that everything is getting coated in the juices.
I added some fresh thyme at the end because it tastes so nice. The cabbage becomes really sweet and amalgamates with the onions perfectly. Lastly it's added to my lunchbox all ready to be reheated in the microwave at dinner time at work. Yum...

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

I made this for myself and Jacob for lunch using the left over lamb from the night before.
I chopped up the cold lamb from the fridge and fried in a pan with a big pinch of ground coriander, cumin, and sweet smoked paprika and salt and pepper and some olive oil.

I heated up a lebanese bread ( I like the 'Jabal brand - you can get it from most supermarkets)
in a large cast iron fry pan with no oil. It only takes a couple of minutes on both sides.

Then I put down a layer of sweet spicy tomato sauce (just add some chilli to it) on the bread, then the lamb and what ever vege you have.
I used lettuce, red onion, red cabbage, tomatoes, coriander and mint and topped it off with some yogurt sauce. The flavour combinations go so well together, really delicious. You could make it vegetarian and use hummus instead of the lamb if you prefer.
Jacob ate his like a loaded pizza and I used less filling and folded mine over in half.

Tuesday, 8 November 2011

We had this marinated butterflied leg of lamb for dinner on Sunday night. I have posted this marinade recipe before but there was no picture and it is so easy and delicious I thought I would post it again.

For the marinade you will need

1 butterflied leg of lamb ( you could use any cut of lamb - steaks or chops)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of chopped garlic

1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander ( I dry fried whole seeds and ground )

zest of 1 lemon

handful of coriander finely chopped

lots of salt and pepper

For the cooking I seared it fat side down in a large fry pan on moderate high heat with a small amount of olive oil until golden, then I turned it over, cooked for about another minute and then put it in a pre heated oven 180C for about 20 mins or until a thermometer reaches 63C. Make sure you let it rest for 15 mins before slicing.

We had the lamb with a simple tomato salad of tomatoes, red onion, chopped mint and coriander, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar.
Along with some small cut roast potatoes and yogurt sauce with a lot of finely cubed cucumber added to it.

Monday, 7 November 2011

Lily has wanted a hammock for our outside room forever. I came across this one at the 'Trade Aid' shop. Chris put it up yesterday.

Beautiful Peonies. Just about to do there dash, but their colours at this time are just beautiful. I bought these from the 'lady who sells them from her truck' at Shore Rd, Remuera (Sports ground carpark). She is there Wed, Thurs and Fri morning till about 1pm. Really fresh and much cheaper than any where else.

The tuis have been waking me up at the crack of dawn clicking and barking away for the last few weeks. Nice but the flax flower nectar it likes, are right by our bedroom window, really loud! Apparently the tui has a huge vocal range, some sounds that we as humans cannot even register.

I was delighted to capture some shots in the Pohutakawa tree out the back. Usually by the time I have found my camera it has flown away.